Jacob Bethell: Ben Stokes hint puts pressure on Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley

Pope, therefore, is vulnerable, despite again being confirmed as England’s vice-captain by Stokes on Wednesday.

If he does lose his place, it would be unfortunate given his willingness to adapt for England over the past year. At various times he has been captain, wicketkeeper, opener, number three and number six. Indeed, he slipped down the order to make way for Bethell.

Pope endured a rollercoaster 2024 with the bat. His 196 in the first Test against India in Hyderabad was one of the greatest overseas innings ever played by an Englishman in Test history, but he was inconsistent thereafter. Pope averaged 33.13, the lowest for any batter in Test cricket to have scored three hundreds in a calendar year.

Following the series in New Zealand, head coach McCullum appeared to give greater backing to Crawley than to Pope.

Speaking on Wednesday, McCullum said: “It’s a problem that we want, and our guys know that. Ultimately, our currency is runs.

“We do need to keep putting up performances to be earning the opportunity to keep getting picked, and especially when you get surrounded with good cricketers throughout your country. So it’s a good problem to have, but, again, what a great opportunity these guys got in front of them.”

England have also regularly talked up the advantages of Bethell’s left-arm spin. In recent times spin has not played a prominent role in Tests in Australia, so Bethell would give the option of playing an Ashes Test without a specialist spinner.